Nigerian Official Denies Congressman Bribed Him

By PHILIP SHENON

Published: July 20, 2006

The vice president of Nigeria angrily denied Wednesday that he accepted bribes or had a business relationship with Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who is the target of a federal corruption investigation that is threatening to complicate American relations with that oil-rich West African nation.

In a statement made available by his Washington lawyers, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a leading candidate in Nigeria's presidential election next year, insisted that Mr. Jefferson had never ''suggested -- in any way -- providing any personal economic benefits'' to him.

Mr. Abubakar said he had ''no relationship with Mr. Jefferson, personal or private, other than the usual diplomatic courtesies'' extended to an American official promoting development in Nigeria, a major exporter of oil to the United States. One of Mr. Abubakar's lawyers, Edward Weidenfeld, said that ''there is nothing linking the vice president with Congressman Jefferson except Mr. Jefferson's own false, self-serving statements.''

Mr. Weidenfeld said his client was entitled to a statement from federal prosecutors that he was ''an innocent victim.''

The statements Wednesday were the first detailed effort by Mr. Abubakar and his political advisers to distance him from the wide-ranging corruption investigation centered on Mr. Jefferson, an eight-term lawmaker who was influential on African issues in the House.

Federal prosecutors have said Mr. Jefferson is under investigation for conspiring to bribe officials in Nigeria and elsewhere in West Africa in exchange for their help in securing government contracts for a small Kentucky-based technology company partly controlled by Mr. Jefferson.

Mr. Jefferson has denied wrongdoing and is seeking re-election in November. His spokeswoman, Judy Smith, said Mr. Jefferson agreed with Mr. Abubakar that ''the vice president never accepted or agreed to accept any money from the congressman.''

The criminal investigation has accelerated in recent weeks. On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that investigators could begin examining documents seized in a search of Mr. Jefferson's offices on Capitol Hill. Mr. Jefferson had sought to delay that examination while he appealed an earlier ruling by the same judge, Thomas F. Hogan, that the search was legal and did not infringe on the constitutional separation of powers.

The investigation of Mr. Jefferson is being closely followed by news organizations in Nigeria, and Mr. Abubakar has been forced to address questions about it as he prepares to step up his campaign for the presidency.

In his statement, Mr. Abubakar said that he ''does not wish to make any judgments about Congressman Jefferson since the matter is still ongoing,'' that he had ''full confidence in the system of administration of justice'' in the United States and that ''at the end of the day the truth of the matter will be known to all.''